


Surprise Visit

by The_Doom_Dahlia



Category: Heathers (1988), Heathers: The Musical - Murphy & O'Keefe, The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee - Finn/Sheinkin/Reiss
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Crossover, Gen, Logainne's birth mom, Political Beliefs
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-02-17
Updated: 2016-02-17
Packaged: 2018-05-21 05:13:33
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,584
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6039595
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/The_Doom_Dahlia/pseuds/The_Doom_Dahlia
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Logainne gets a visit from a stranger who doesn't seem too strange to her.</p><p>Inspired by a conspiracy theory from 'sweet_witch_hella_knight' here on AO3.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Surprise Visit

**Author's Note:**

> The dog is a therapy pup.
> 
> This takes place during the break where 'My Unfortunate Erection' is sung.

As soon as Mitch had finished his song to the latest person who’d misspelled something (the word was ‘antidisestablishmentarianism’), all the kids had flooded to the backstage for a break. Olive was still nervously checking her phone, hoping for something- _anything_ from her parents, William was checking on his magic foot, and Leaf had ambled off to parts unknown. Meanwhile, Logainne perched in her chair, fiddling with the buttons on her lapel and with her braids, her fathers giving her advice and pacing in front of her, seemingly as nervous as she was.

“Remember your breathing.” Carl-dad piped up, moving with the same pace as one of those tin soldiers in the Nutcracker, movements slow and deliberate, as always.

“Get some water before you go back out.” Dan-dad continued, patting her hand. He was calmer than Carl was, but there was still that fire in his eyes that said that he desperately wanted to see his daughter win.

“God hates losers!” Carl-dad reminded her, voice fiery and stedfast, loud enough to make Logainne jump in place, nodding in agreement. God despised losers.

“But he loves you.” Dan-dad added, and she smiled at that. If God hates losers, and God loves winners, and God loves her, logic would dictate that she was a winner, right? Right.

Carl-dad opened his mouth to speak once more, then a knock on the wall stopped him. There stood Mitch, clutching his guitar close to him. “Mr and Mr. Schwartzandgrubenierre!” he whisper-yelled, coming a bit closer. “There’s a lady here to see you. Says she wants to talk to Logainne.”

That made Logainne sit up in place as her dads gave confused looks to one another and followed Mitch out, assuring her that they’d be right back. She had no idea why someone would want to see her, and wasn’t really sure if she wanted to see anyone. Her anxiety only grew as she heard her dads whispering sharply, a woman’s voice and the soft snuffles of a dog piping in every few moments. She couldn’t hear exactly what they were saying, but the woman sounded like she was pleading for something. It made her nervous, so she fiddled with her hair and buttons more, practicing her breathing.

Soon, the pleading died down, and her dads returned, a woman following them. The stranger was short and thin, with long curls of blonde hair and wide, pale brown eyes. She looked like a deer in the headlights, and her dress was pale yellow, with a band of black and white around her waist. She wore tall heels and many rings, and Logainne could see the yellow heart necklace around her throat had teeth markings in it., and the edges of a pressure vest beneath the gentle yellow blazer she wore. Tossed over her shoulder was a yellow purse shaped like a rabbit, and at her feet was a golden retriever, calm and happy, panting. Almost everything about the woman was yellow, and Logainne liked the hue.

The woman seemed to like her too, because the smile that spread across her cheeks was brilliant and dazzling, her eyes flashing with delight. The flash and smile faded as Dan-dad tapped her shoulder and murmured “Five minutes.” before leaving her alone with Logainne.

The two girls stood in silence, looking at each other before the stranger spoke, voice tinged with happiness and nerves. “Can I sit with you?” she asked shyly, gesturing to the seat beside her.

Logainne looked at the seat and considered her options before nodding. “Sure!” she chirped, her lisp evident, smiling at the sigh of relief the stranger made before sitting beside her, the dog curling at her feet, almost dozing off. With her permission, she read over the pins on her rabbit’s side: _Pups Against the Patriarchy, Keep Abortion Legal,_ a Bernie Sanders pin, pins of the pansexual and demisexual flags, a picture of what appeared to be a pot leaf, _Flappin’ Awesome-._

That caught Logainne’s attention. “Are you autistic too?” she asked, tilting her head curiously.

The woman blinked in surprise, then her memory caught back up and she giggled to herself. “Yeah.” she nodded. “I got diagnosed when I was a teenager in the eighties. Not an easy diagnosis, but still.”

Logainne nodded. “The eighties weren’t good to anyone. Dan-dad says the only good thing to come out of the eighties was Madonna, and that’s because she influenced Lady Gaga. I say they were good because we got the first Supreme Court justice who was a woman! There’s only been four so far, which is just plain ridiculous! Carl-dad says that’s just because there’s more potential nominees who are male, but I think it’s just plain ol’ sexism! Sexism is such a big part of politics, it wouldn’t surprise m-.” Slowly, she stopped, blushing a little. “Sorry.” she apologized in a murmur. “My dads say that sometimes people get irritated when I talk about politics too much.”

 

The stranger just nodded. “My mom used to say that same thing to me, except with me, it was cheerleading. Don’t worry about it. I’d listen to you talk for hours about politics, but I don’t have that much time.” she said sadly. “I’m here to tell you something. And I need for you to try and listen to me, okay? You don’t have to listen if you don’t want to, but at least try at first. Can you do that, please?”

Logainne blinked in confusion, but nodded. “Okay, ma’am.”

The woman nodded. “Okay..I want for you to know that it’s okay for you to lose. Your dads are wrong. God doesn’t hate losers, God doesn’t hate anyone. He just wants for you to do your best.” she murmured. She took a few shaky breaths before saying, voice choking up “And no matter how you do, there’s always going to be someone who is so proud of you for all you’ve done, and who loves you so very much. Okay?”

Logainne didn’t believe her, honestly. Ever since her birth, her dads had always enforced the idea that God hates losers, and that she needed to win to survive. Nothing some stranger said would change that. But, the woman’s voice was soothing, and her last statement was kind, and she wanted to make her happy, so she nodded.

The stranger sighed in relief, smiling gently to her. “Good.” the stranger said, her dog making a soft ‘chuff’ of agreement as Dan-dad and Carl-dad returned. Quickly, she murmured to them, pleading for just a second more. Checking his watch, Carl-dad sighed and nodded. She turned back to the young girl, brown eyes soft and warm. “Logainne..would it be alright if I hugged you?”

A shot of nerves hit Logainne. She didn’t like being touched much, especially by strangers. But, for some odd reason, the woman didn’t feel like a stranger. She hadn’t felt like a stranger even when she came in, Logainne realized, but like an old friend. So, she nodded, and accepted the embrace from the woman. She smelled like sugar cookies and vanilla and wet dog, and she was as warm as any weighted blanket could be, and it made her feel calm and happy as the woman murmured “Good luck, Logainne. I believe in you.” Then she left Logainne and her dads alone.

As she sat back in her chair, Logainne smiled despite her worry. Soon the bee would start again, and while she was worried, she felt slightly bolstered by the stranger’s kindness. She still didn’t understand why she’d come to speak to her, and guessed that she’d never know. So, instead, she locked up her words in her heart and listened close to her dads, eager to win the Bee.  
\-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------  
Heather locked the door of her car, brushing her hands down the soft fabric of her long black dress and slipping her chewy necklace tight between her pretty pale teeth, rings turning under her fingers. She was a nervous wreck, having suppressed all her fear while speaking to Logainne, allowing it all to burst forth as she sat alone in the tiny yellow Beetle, Cheese settled in the backseat, dozing away and dreaming of chasing rabbits.

She wished that she could have told her why she was there. Wished that Logainne knew just how much she adored her, and how much she hoped for her triumph, and how proud she was of her. But alas, she couldn’t know that. At least not now. When she was older, once she’d burst like a comet and become as brilliant as she knew she could be, she’d return to New York, and they’d meet properly.

Heather removed the wallet from her purse (neatly nestled beside the crimson scrunchie her wife had given her when they’d met again, the memories in the back of her head burst and burned for a few moments, hissing around her skull and jabbing into her heart), opening it up and taking out her driver’s license, reading over the word ‘MISSOURI’ and her own name, and sighing before she drove away, still thinking of Logainne and of the bee she left behind. The license lay beside her as she whistled an old song, face up, her name, or at least, the name she’d taken up to escape Ohio and Westerburg and the loss of her friends and that had landed her in a trailer park outside Kansas City, that was her badge of honor and shame and the name her daughter knew: Peggy Jenkins.

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for reading!


End file.
